Tough Times in the Job Market… So what are YOU doing about it?

At last week’s MPN Soiree we saw a decided increase in attendance, about 40%. (“It’s the economy stupid”, as Bill Clinton famously said in 1992.) Which is what we all know, unless you have been on a media holiday for the past six months. The question is what are you doing about it? We’ve published a first draft of a paper on “Strategies for Surviving the Recession”. Nothing too earth shattering in it, yet taken together, all of the strategies comprise most of the things any job seeker in MPN should be doing anyways including networking as if there were no tomorrow; revising your household finances to fit the present family income; looking for part-time work; weighing the merits of a contract position far more carefully; knowing the contract recruiters in your field; “sharpening your saw”, as Stephen J. Covey, would say, by reading, taking courses to upgrade your skills, staying in shape, etc.; and, of course, attending job seekers groups like MPN. One of the strategies we did not include in this draft is the issue of the time value of money or, more accurately, the present value of money. To put it prosaically: a bird in the hand… In other words, are you going to hold out for your full value, with the notion that a full-value job may not come along for six more months, or will you take something that is slightly less than you deserve (or were making in your last position) today? Don’t kid yourself: every employer with any sense is taking a hard look at salaries and how they can keep them down. This is clearly not a time for salary inflation; so do your math well as you set your value on the job market. An overblown sense of your dollar worth is just as damaging as an undervalued one.